We will share updates on on the healthcare and RN/APRN legislation we are following and supporting this session. There are about 10 (non-consecutive) legislative days left this session and we hope you will join in the effort to get our bills we care about to the finish line.

Also, We have many upcoming opportunities for you to get involved in APRN advocacy here in Georgia. The APRN of the Day CE Opportunity is still available. We will also have many new leadership opportunities as we prepare for a VERY busy summer if our Study Committee Bills (SR 188 and HR 388) get successfully passed.

We have word from GNA that we need to continue to make phone calls to the 35 members of the House HHS committee so that the Nursing Compact Bill SB 166 gets on their schedule for a committee hearing. The list and talking points are below.

It would also be great to have APRNs at the Capitol pulling out your own legislators and members of the House HHS committee at the ropes to ask them in person to support the Nursing Compact SB 166.

Here is the Sign up if you would like to come to the Capitol to serve as APRN of the Day and earn FREE CE.

This is all bill ALL NURSES need to get behind with ONE VOICE, GNA who is taking the LEAD on this Bill has initiated a CALL TO ACTION today. Here are the details:

Nursing Licensure Compact Bill (NLC/SB 166) has successfully passed the Georgia State Senate! This is great news for us but our work is far from done.

Crossover Day (Legislative Day 28) was Friday, March 3, 2017 and only 12 legislative days remain to get SB 166 out of the House Health and Human Services (HHS) committee and on to the floor of the Georgia House of Representatives for a full vote.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!!

It is a vital imperative that the members of the House HHS committee hear from you, from the entirety of the nursing profession in our state, about the importance of the passage of this bill and Georgia becoming a part of the Nursing Licensure Compact.

Please see the complete contact information for the entire House HHS Committee listed below and consider emailing, calling, tweeting or all of the above, these legislators and indicating the need for them to give SB 166 positive consideration and passage so that it can be moved along onto the floor of the House for a vote. In a matter of 30 minutes

***Talking Points***

Emails and Phone calls

NLC will help to fill the need for nurses in rural Georgia.

NLC will help military spouses obtain their license without undue delay- they typically have to wait between 4-7 weeks for their license to take effect. This means they are unable to work during that time.

NLC will allow nurses to quickly cross state borders and provide vital services in the event of disaster.

NLC will help meet the need to get nurse educators that typically have to purchase a license for every state in which they teach. This will help Colleges and Universities recruit other nurse educators to train Georgia nurses.

NLC removes a burdensome expense for organizations that employ nurses and may share the expense of multiple licenses. This is why several organizations support the compact and want its passage like Piedmont, Grady, CHOA and the Association of Health Plans. In sum, there are more than 20 Georgia organizations that would like to see the NLC passed in Georgia.

25 states have already passed this legislation

Any personal stories you that can be shared about how Georgia being a part of NLC can now make, or could have made, your experience as a nurse more pleasant is always encouraged.

Twitter

Ask that they give SB 166 the Nursing Licensure Compact Bill positive consideration and passage using the hashtag #PassTheCompact

WE MUST let our elected officials know that nurses are tuned in and paying attention to them as they make the decision about whether to, or not, take heed our calls for the advancement of the nursing profession in our state!

Call!….. Email!…. Tweet!…. And engage your co-workers and colleagues to join you in doing so, that we may display our ability to organize and engage when the future of our profession is hanging in the balance.

There are 35 legislators below to call. It will take about 30 minutes of your time to call each person. If can’t call all 35, then try to call half of the list. If your last name begins with A to M Call the first 19 on the list, if your last name begins with N to Z call the HHS CHAIR and VICE CHAIR (Rep. Cooper and Rep Hawkins) and the last 17 on the list.